Operating Expenses Hurt Chunghwa's Earnings

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On March 30, 2009, Chunghwa Telecom(CHT Quote) reported an 18.9% drop in its Q4 FY08 earnings, impacted by an increase in operating expenses and impairment loss on assets. Net loss was North Taiwanese Dollar (NT$) 8.49 billion or NT$0.82 per American depository share (ADS) compared to NT$10.46 billion or NT$1.01 per ADS in Q4 FY07.

Revenue grew marginally to NT$46.72 billion from NT$46.39 billion in the prior year's quarter. Segment-wise, revenue from the Internet and Data segment was 2.6% higher than the same period last year. However, Mobile revenue decreased 1.4%, mainly due to a decrease in traffic, whereas Mobile VAS revenue increased 19.8%. Furthermore, Fixed Line revenue inched down 2.4% year-over-year. Meanwhile, the company had 322,000 net additions to its 3G subscriber base, an increase of 9.9% quarter-over-quarter, resulting in a total number of 3G subscribers of 3.56 million as of December 31, 2008. ...